| 24 April 2003 | Meeting of the IRU General Assembly (AG) |
Mrs. Loyola de Palacio
Vice President of the European Commission, In charge of Transport & Energy
Cooperation between the IRU and the public sector
I should first of all like to congratulate the IRU Delegation on its 30th anniversary, and at the same time pay homage to the IRU for having, for a very long time already, understood the importance of good cooperation between the public sector and the private sector in order to achieve good rules concerning the organisation of the road transport market.Good cooperation is the best guarantee of the implementation of solutions that are effective and lasting.
Of course, our points of view have not always been identical. However, even where our opinions differed, your opinion and your experience have nevertheless had an impact on the way in which the Commission has developed its policy and Parliament and the Council have subsequently taken their decisions.I wish to confirm here and now my hope to see this constructive exchange of views and information between the IRU and the Community bodies continue in the same way in the future.
Society needs road transport
If there is another message that I would like to pass on, it is that our society needs road transport services.It is too easy to criticise road transport for its adverse impact on the environment, for the congestion which it creates, for the noise which it causes and for the road hazards to which it contributes, but the fact is that in our private and professional activities we depend more or less all the time on the work done by road hauliers.
For their supplies and their mobility needs, companies and citizens depend to a very large extent on the services offered by road hauliers.
Your extraordinary success in terms of growth, employment, efficiency and competitiveness, which has done much to contribute to the development of the internal market, shows just how essential your profession is to the functioning of the EU.
Road charging
On several occasions already, the Commission has given its views about the establishment of an efficient transport infrastructure charging. This is one of the important aspects of the common transport policyThe situation differs enormously from one country and mode of transport to another. For example, some countries charge tolls, others levy user charges and others make no charge whatsoever. In the case of road transport, fuel excise duties are levied - sometimes at very high rates - while for some other modes there is no such charge. The levels of the annual vehicle and fuel excise taxes also differs significantly from one country to another. What is clear is that these differences result in the malfunctioning of the internal market and distort competition within the transport system.
I consider that Community action should therefore have the objective of harmonisation of the rules and the establishment of a common charging framework for transport infrastructure use which takes account of the real costs caused by transport operations, establishing MAXIMUM LEVELS.
The objective is not to collect new revenue for the State but rather to provide good economic incentives for transport operations. In particular, the Member States will be offered the possibility of offsetting the introduction of charging by reducing other taxes or costs.
I expect a great deal from this new transport infrastructure charging system. In combination with other measures concerning trans-European networks, transport research and development, rail improvements, promotion of combined transport, and the establishment of technical and environmental requirements and action plans aimed at improving transport safety, this charging system can help to make the transport system sustainable.
We need more roads in E.U.
In any case, I will not accept “rents arising from geographical position.Enlargement
For European industry, the enlarged EU should be regarded as an opportunity. To some extent, industry has already anticipated enlargement. This is reflected in the flow of trade and investment. The economic integration process will be further strengthened once enlargement has become a reality on May 1, next year. A bigger market, a greater choice of products and more consumers will enable European industry to extend its activities.First of all, identical fears were raised before the accession of Spain, Portugal and Greece to the EU. We now know that they were unfounded.
Secondly, the Commission has made efforts to ensure that accession will only take place if all the Community acquis has been accepted and transposed by the candidate States. To be sure, they have allowed some transition periods, but they are limited in number, and in duration, and their scope is restricted in almost all cases to domestic transport.
Road hauliers in the candidate countries will have to apply all the Community acquis as from the date of accession. This will result, for a whole year, and probably beyond 1 May 2004 in an increase in the cost of their operations. The difference between the cost levels will be reduced accordingly.
Apart from the formal transposition of the acquis, considerable attention has been paid to verifying the administrative capacity of the candidate States to apply Community provisions and monitor compliance with these rules. In the months ahead, Community experts and experts from the Member States will carry out on‑the‑spot verifications in five candidate States and will help the candidate States complete this task.
However, at the same time, fears are being expressed about the impact on the economy of the 15 Member States of the 10 new Member States, in particular in view of the large difference in production and labour costs. These fears have been expressed vigorously in the case of road transport. Nevertheless, it seems to me that they are somewhat overestimated to a certain extort, for several reasons.
In addition, competition is not exclusively based on rates. Competitiveness depends also on other factors such as the quality of service, innovation, the extent of the supply, geographical proximity, trading relations, etc.
Also, the integration of the new Member States will stimulate trade and consequently transport.
Finally, I should like to mention in this respect that the Act of Accession provides for the application of safeguard measures of a general nature, the possibility for the Member States to limit the free movement of workers for a period up to seven years and the possibility for the Member States to protect their national transport market by prohibiting "cabotage" by companies established in the new Member States for a period of up to five years.
To my way of thinking, all these arguments, while not dispelling the fears certainly put them into perspective.
Let me turn now to road safety.
Road Safety
The Road Safety Action Plan
This action programme, which has as subtitle: ‘Reducing by half the number of road fatalities in the European Union by 2010: a shared responsibility’, is expected to be adopted by the Commission in the coming month. It will be published and widely disseminated. Subject to final approval by the Commission the main elements are as follows:With a view to achieving the general objective mentioned in the subtitle, the programme centres around three objectives :
- bringing users to a better behaviour on the road, especially through initial and continued training of both private and professional drivers and by efforts to fight dangerous practices;
- making vehicles safer, in particular through technical harmonisation and support of technical progress, and
- improve road infrastructure, especially by the identification and exchange of best practices at local level and by the elimination of black spots.
- Moreover, it envisages concrete measures, to improve the collection and analysis of data with respect to accidents and physical damage and to pursue research for finding future solutions.
- Finally, it announces the creation of a Road Safety Charter that will be open for accession by all parties who want to engage themselves to respect universal principles and take specific actions in the field of road safety.
Enforcement of the social rules for professional drivers
Social rules have an impact of safety. We are considering eventually measures to improve enforcement of the existing rules for professional road transport on driving, resting and working time. This could eventually be done through the revision of Directive 88/599 on standard checking procedures for the implementation of the social legislation. The initiative will be part of an enforcement package also consisting of a directive dealing with enforcement in the field of road safety in general. An information paper on this has been submitted by the Commission to the social partners in the transport sector for comments.
However this will be done under the angle of safety, I am not responsible for social matters.
Tunnels
In the White Paper mentioned before, the Commission stressed the need to consider a European Directive on the harmonisation of minimum safety standards to guaranty the conditions for a high level of safety for the users of tunnels, particularly those which are part of the Trans-European Transport Network.
The Commission has thus adopted on 30 December 2002 a proposal for a directive along the following lines:
- The proposal applies to all road tunnels with a length over 500 m located on the Trans-European Network.
- The different roles and responsibilities for tunnel safety at national level are clarified. Notably, each Member State shall appoint an Administrative Authority with the overall responsibility for tunnel safety. For each tunnel, the responsibility of ensuring the safety shall fall on a unique Tunnel Manager.
The proposal encompasses the main technical and operational safety-related aspects such as:
- technical equipment (ventilation and fumes-extraction devices, shelters, escape galleries...),
- traffic rules (distance between vehicles...),
- training of the operating staff to cope with a major accident,
- rescue organisation,
- information to users on "how to react in the event of a fire",
- and communication means to facilitate the users' evacuation in the event of a fire.
The proposal is now well under discussion in Parliament and Council and I hope that they will be able to handle it rapidly.
Conclusion
To conclude, I should like, to congratulate once again the IRU Delegation in Brussels for the thirty years of work accomplished in close cooperation with the Community authorities.I should also like to wish the IRU Delegation a long life at the service of the profession and express the wish that it can continue, and even intensify this work in the interest of carriers, citizens and the society at large.
